放卫星

放卫星

Literally means:

launch a satellite

Actually means:

talk big

During the period of "大跃进 the Great Leap Forward" in industrial and agricultural production in the last century, news came from a place that their rice yield as high as 10, 000 Jin/Mu (about 75,000kg/hectare). This incredibly high yield was described as “放卫星 the launch of a satellite” by a newspaper, implying that it was as extraordinary as the former Soviet Union's launch of a satellite. Later it turned out to be falsifide.

Therefore this phrase is now used to refer to talking big, bragging or exaggeration. Derogatory.

在上世纪工农业生产“大跃进”的年代，某地传出水稻达到亩产一万斤的消息，被报纸称为“放卫星”（意思是这种了不起的事情可以跟苏联发射人造卫星比美），后来发现许多“放卫星”的事原来是假的。 于是“放卫星”便被用来指说大话，吹牛皮，夸大声势具有贬义色彩。